[BLOG] Some Thursday links

[rfmcdonald]

• The Buzz recommends twenty-four different novels for Valentine's Day, drawing on the recommendations of employees of the Toronto Public Library.


• Centauri Dreams links to a new paper suggesting there are thousands of objects of extrasolar origin, some tens of kilometres in size, in our planetary system right now.


• D-Brief notes that cryptocurrency is hindering the search for extraterrestrial life, as miners buy up the graphics cards SETI researchers need.


• Lyman Stone at In A State of Migration notes how unbalanced the marriage market can be for professional women in the United States interested in similar partners, especially for African-American women.


• JSTOR Daily notes how deeply the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr. for racial equality in the United States were driven by anti-colonial nationalism in Africa.


• The LRB Blog notes how the life and writing of Penelope Fitzgerald was influenced by two decades of living on the English coast, suspended between land and water.


• At the NYR Daily, Melissa Chadburn tells of what she learned from counting, and queueing, and perservering in routines.


• At The Numerati, Stephen Baker shares an excerpt from his new book, Dark Site, describing a teenager's attempts to control a cognitive implant.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer takes issue with elements of the timing of Lyman Stone's schedule for immigration controls imposed in the United Kingdom on Caribbean migrants.


• At the Planetary Society Blog, Emily Lakdawalla explains how scientists are keeping the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in good stead despite its age.


• At Roads and Kingdoms, Timi Siytangco explains the history of the Philippines through nine Filipino foods.


• Drew Rowsome is impressed by the power of The Assassination of Gianni Versace.


• Ethan Siegel at Starts With A Bang explains why black holes have to contain singularities, not merely superdense normal matter.
  
• Window on Eurasia notes the rather misogynistic essay of ideologue Vladimir Surkin about women and power, timed for Valentine's Day.